Machine for utilizing ocean-power



(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 1. R. L. JOHANSEN. MACHINE FOR UTILIZING OCEANPOWER &c'.

No. 475,451. Patent d May 24,1892.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

R. L. JOHANSEN.

. MACHINE FOR UTILIZING OCEAN POWER & 6. No. 475,451.

Patented May 24, 1892.

'4 She ets-Sheet 3.

Patented May 24, 1892.

R. L. JOHANSEN. MACHINE FOR UTILIZING 00mm POWER 6w.

(No Model.\

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUDOLPH LQJOHANSEN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

MACHINE FOR-UTILIZING OCEAN-POWER, 800.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 475,451, dated May 24,1892.

Application filed May 21, 1891- Serial No. 393,645. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH L. JoHANsEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines forUtilizing Ocean-Power and for Converting Intermittent Motion intoContinuous Rotary Motion, of which the following is a specification.

My improved machine is designed to be operated by the rise and fall of afloat moored out beyond the breakers, where it will not be subject tothe action of the breakers, and it is designed that the machines be usedin series with their respective floats arranged with relation to theswell, so that they will be raised and lowered one after the other asthe swell comes in toward land.

One object of my invention is to utilize the direct buoyant action ofthe swell with the smallest possible amount of friction.

Parts of my invention are adapted for use wherever it is desired toconvert reciprocating motion into continuous rotary motion.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a plain side elevation of one of the motors complete. It isto be understood that the power is to be derived from a series of motorshaving their floats arranged in aline diagonal to the line of the swellof the ocean, as indicated in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a seriesof floats and their piers. It is to be understood that each of thecables Bis designed for connection with motion-converting mechanismcorresponding to that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plain side view ofone of the floats and the end of the pier on a larger scale than thatshown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a plain side elevation of themotion-converting portion of the machine. Fig. 5 is a plain side view ofthe improved ratchet employed by me, the face-plate 36 shown in Fig. 11being removed to expose the parts. Fig. 6 is a plan view of themotion-con verting portion of the machine. Fig. 7 shows a plan view ofan intermediate portion of the mechanism, showing the tension-carriagearranged to take up the slack of the cable and maintain suitablefriction upon the driving-drum, which is shown in this figure, as wellas in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 shows a plan of the projecting .angles to the power-shaft.

truss or frame and a portion of the float. Fig. 9 is a detail of thelower part of the device for placing and holding the cable-depressionpulley in position, one of the side timbers being removed to expose theparts. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the motion-converting portion ofthe mechanism. Fig. 11 is a section on line 00 as, Fig. 10. Fig. 12 isan elevation of the device for governing the motion. Fig. 13 is afragmentary View of the same at right Fig. 14 is a plan view of aportion of such mechanism. Line y y, Figs. 12 and 13, shows the point atwhich the upper portion of the mechanism is broken away.

In practice the float A is of such size and weight that it will operateboth by its buoyancy and by its weight to drive the mechanism of themotion-converting machine. B O are the extreme members of a suitablemachine-operating cable and are attached, respectively, to the top andbottom of the float. The member B passes over the supportingpulley b,which is sustained by a suitable truss or frame D, which projects outfrom the pier E. The member 0, which is attached to the bottom of thefloat, passes down around the depression-pulley c, which is secured bysuitable means to the masonry a at the bottom of the ocean and in thesame vertical plane with, or vertically beneath, the supporting-pulleyb. By this arrangement the float A is secured between the supporting andde-. pression pulleys and floats in the water and rises and fallswithout friction upon a track or guides, thus avoiding wear. The pulleyc is secured, preferably, to the pulley-carriage F, which is arranged totravel up and downa suitably-inclined track d, so that when it isdesired to draw the pulley with its cable up above the water forinspection it may be done by means of the carriage-operating andpulley-adjusting cable 6, which is oppositely secured to the ends of thecarriage F and passes over the carriage cable-pulleys ff, secured,respectively, to the anchor-masonry a and the pier E. Thedepression-pulley c is secured to a suitable anchoring-hook g, which issecured to and projects down through the carriage F to engage with asuitable anchoring-eye h, fixed in the masonry a, so that when thecarriage F is down in position at the bottom of the track, as shown, thehook will pro ject through the eye h, and will thus sustain the straincaused by the uplifting of the float A and the lower member G of thecable. The hook is preferably so attached to the carriage as to allowsome vertical movement, so that no strain will come upon the carriagewhen the carriage is in place. The cable B and C is passed around thefriction-drum G, and by its friction upon such drum causes the drum torotate partially first in one direction and then in the other as thefloat rises and falls with the swell. Where the cable passes around thedrum, the loop B Gis formed andis made to pass around the tension-pulleyH, which is mounted upon the tension-carriage I, which is arranged totravel back and forth upon the track J, and is attached to a suitableweight K by means of a cable L,passed over the pulley M, thus to form atension or take-up device to maintain an even frictional pressure uponthe drum Gand to allow the cable to be slackened when desired. Thistension is light enough to allow the cable to slip upon the drum in caseof great strain caused by sudden application of the governor-brake. Thedrum G is journaled upon the drum-supporting shaft N and is connectedwith the driving sprocket-wheel O by a suitable clutch P, operated bylever P, so that the sprocket-wheel O and revolving drum G can be thrownout of or into connection with each other at pleasure when it is desiredto start or stop the machine. This clutch mechanism is not shown indetail, as it is of the ordinary well-known construction. The sprocket-wheel O is connected with the sprocket-wheel Q, through the medium of thesprocket-chain R and the sprocket-wheel S, which is fixed to wheel Q,both being journaled to revolve upon the shaft T, which is provided witha crank t, to which a pump may be attached. The two wheels Q and S areoperatively connected by suitable pawl 'i and ratchet j tothe shaft '1to drive the shaft in one direction. The sprocket-chain R is led to thes1: rocket-wheel S over the ratchet-wheels 7c and Z, which are fixedtogether and mounted upon the shaft m, the purpose of this being tostrengthen this part of the machine and prevent injury from the backlashof the chain when the action is reversed. The sprocketwheel Q isconnected with the reciprocating motiou-rcceiving wheel U by means ofthe sprocket-chain V. The sprocket-wheel U is journaled upon thepower-shaft WV and is connected therewith by the positive ratchet n,which is arranged to drive the shaft W in one directioni. e, in thedirection indicated by the curved arrows in Figs. 4 and 10. Thesprocket-wheel U is fixed to the driving cogwheel X, which meshes withthe reversing cogwheel Y, which is journaled upon the shaft Z. Asprocket-wheel 0 is fixed to the cog-wheel Y and connected by means ofthe sprocketchain p to the shaft-drivin g sprocket-wheel g, which isjournaled upon the power-shaft W' and connected therewith by the ratchet'r.

It will be observed that the movement of'the chain V in either directionwill cause the rotation of the shaft W in the direction indicated by thecurved arrow in Figs. 4 and 10. If the chain V moves in the directionindicated by the straight arrow in Fig. 4, the reciprocatingmotion-receiving sprocketwheel U will be rotated in a direct-ionopposite to that indicated by the curved arrow, thereby causing thecog-Wheel a; to rotate in the same direction with U, thus driving in areverse direction the cog-wheel Y, to which the reversing sprocket-wheelo is fixed, and thus driving the reversing sprocket-chain p and wheel qin the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 4 and 10, and thereby,through the medium of the reversing-ratchet r of the sprocket-wheel q,rotating the power-shaft W in the direction it is driven by the positiveratchet n. The reverse movement of the chain V will drive thesprocket-wheel U in the direction indicated bythe curved arrows in Figs.4 and 10, thereby causing theratchet n to engage the power'shaft W todrive it in the direction indicated by the curved arrows in Figs. 4 and10. When the wheel U is rotated in the direction indicated by the curvedarrows, the cog-wheel X drives the cog-wheel Y, sprocket-wheel 0, andsprocket-wheel q in the direction opposite to that in which they aredriven when the chain Vis driven in the direction indicated by thestraight arrow in Fig. 4, and the ratchet T, when driven in thedirection opposite to that indicated by the curved arrow, will notengage the power-shaft W, and therefore will not prevent its rotation.

In order to secure great strength and compactness in the pawl andratchet employed, I provide the hubs of those gear-wheels which aremounted upon axles designed to revolve in one direction only with achamber 1 surrounding the axle to inclose the ratchetwheel j, which isfixed to the axle to be driven. In the chambered Wheel, at intervalsaround the chamber, I provide radial pawlseats 2, in which I mountspring-pressed plugpawls z. The spiral springs 3, which press thesepawls, are seated in the cylindrical spring seats or chambers 4 andoperate to force the plugs '11 against the notched face of theratchet-wheel j. The plugs are beveled on the end which engages theratchet. The beveled face 5 thereof is arranged at such an angle withthe axis of the plug that when one of the notches6 is brought oppositesuch face the face will fittl1ereupon,as shown in Fig. 5.

The means which I employ to regulate. the speed of the power-shaft Wconsists of the friction-govornor, which isillustrated in Figs. 12, 13,and 14. i

The vertically-moving sleeve 15, which is operatively connectedbyintermediate means 35 with the centrifugal balls 29, is connected bythe lever-operating rods 16 to the outer ends of brake-bandoperating-levers 17, pivoted upon the shaft 18, fixed to the frame 19 ofthe machine. A brake-band 20 is connected by its ends, respectively, tothe levers between their fulcrum 18 and the point of attachment of therods 16. The governor-rod 21, provided with the centrifugal balls 29, isgeared to the power-shaft WV through the medium of the cog-wheels 22 and23, governor-driving shaft 24:, the governor-pulley 25, fixed thereupon,the governor-driving pulley 26, fixed upon the power-shaft, and belt 27,connecting pulleys.

25 and 26. The brake-band 20 is arranged around a suitable friction-hub28, fixed to the power-shaft W, and is arranged to engage therewith whenthe band is drawn upward by the levers 17 when the sleeve 15 is elevatedby the too-rapid rotation of the centrifugal balls. The pressure of theband 20 upon the friction-hub is designed to retard the rotation of theshaft, thus communicating the strain to the cable B 0 through theconnecting mechanism, and the cable operates upon the tension carriageI, which yields sufficiently to permit the cable to slip upon thefriction-drum G, thus to prevent driving the machinery too rapidly incase the float should at any time be raised or lowered with an unusuallyquick movement. The weight K can be regulated to bring the proper amountof strain to bear upon the friction-drum G to give sufficient frictionto transmit the desired amount of power, and as soon as the governorapplies the brake to the shaft the cables will slip upon the drum and soallow the speed to become reduced, whereby I avoid racking themotion-converting mechanism by too great speed. Immediately the movementof the shaft is reduced the sleeve 15 is forced down by the weight ofthe centrifugal balls 29, thus relieving the brake-band 28 from thefrictionhub. A spiral spring 30 is arranged to press the sleeve 15downward to assist in relieving the brake, and 31 is a shoulder, whichsustains the brake-operating cross-head 32, which is journaled upon thesleeve 15. It is desirable that the floats be arranged broadside totheswell in order that the whole float will rise and fall with theswellwithout rocking,

as it would if it were arranged transverse to the swell. Otherwise muchof the power will not be transmitted to the cable.

ward to cut the waves and break their force. The floats are moored nearthe shore beyond the breakers by means of suitable cables 7 and anchors8 and are arranged, respectively, with their centers immediately beneaththe sustaining-pulleys b and above the pulley-anchoring eyes 71. y

In practice the cable 0 is first secured to the bottom of the float andis then passed through the depression-pulley O, which is secured to theshank of the hook which is carried by the carriage F, which at the timeof adjusting the cable is drawn to the surface of the water by means ofthe pulley or carriage-handling cable 6. When the cable I provide. eachfloat with .the side prow 12, arranged at' the middle of the float, soas to project sea-- 0 has been passed through the pulley, the carriage Fis drawn down again by means of the cable 6 until the hook g passesthrough the eye 72, as shown in the drawings, thus securing the pulleyagainst being drawn to the surface. When adjusting the cable 0 and itsdepression-pulley c in operative position, advantage is taken of lowtide and the tension-carriage I is temporarily relieved of its weight Kto allow the cable 0 to slacken. The carriage F is supported by wheelsq, and while being drawn up and down the track 01 it is sustainedagainst the uplifting force of the float by means of suitable retainingdevicessuch as the rollers or wheels 10which are arranged at the sidesof the carriage with their peripheries arranged to projectinto theretaining grooves or runways 11 in the inner faces of the track-beams d.WVhen the hook has been forced into place, the weight K is again allowedto operate the tension or evener carriage I to hold the cable taut.Those portions of the cable B O which pass over the sustaining anddepression pulleys are formed of chain in order to give greaterdurability and allow the use of smaller pulleys than could be used withwire cables, and it is to be understood the peripheries of the pulleysZ) and c are to be provided with depressions to fit the links, as iscommon in chain-pulleys. The cables of the several floats are conductedto the shore by means of pulleys 33, arranged along the main wharf orpier 34.

Now, having describedmyinvention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the pier, the truss projecting from such pier andprovided at its outer end with the supporting-pulley, such pulley, themasonry at the bottom of the ocean, the depression-pulley secured tosuch masonry vertically beneath the supporting-pulley, the friction-drumoperatively connected with motion-converting mechanism, and the cablepassing around the friction-drum and having its end members respectivelypassed about the supporting and depression pulleys and secured to thetop and bottom of the float.

2. The combination of the float,the supporting and depression pulleysarranged, respect ively, above and below the float, the frictiondrumoperativelyconnected with motion-converting mechanism, thetension-carriage provided with the tension pulley, means for drawingsuch pulley away from the drum, and the cable passing around thefrictiondrum and tension-pulley and having its end members respectivelypassed about the supporting and depression pulleys and secured to thetop and bottom of the float.

3. The combination of the float, the supporting and depression pulleys,the friction-drum, the cable passing around the friction-drum and havingits end members respectively passed about the supporting and depressionpulleys and secured to the top and bottom of the float, thedrum-supporting shaft N,

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the driving sprocket-wheel O, mounted thereon and connected withthe'friction-drum,the sprocket-wheels Q and S, fixed to each other andjournaled to revolve, the sprocket-chain R, connecting the drivingsprocket-wheel O with the sprocket-wheels Q and S, the powershaft W, thereciprocating motion-receiving sprocket-wheel U, journaled thereon andconnected therewith by the positive ratchet arranged to rotate theshaft. in one direction, the driving cog wheel X, fixed tothesprocketwheel U and journaled upon the power-shaft, the reversing co-wheel Y, meshing with the driving cog-wheel X, the reversingsprocketwheel 0, fixed to the reversing cog-wheel, the shaft-drivingsprocketwheel q, journaled upon the power-shaft and connected therewithby the reversing-ratchet, arranged to drive the shaft in the samedirection it is driven by the positive ratchet n, and suchreversing-ratchet.

4. The combination of the power-shaft, the reciprocatingmotion-receiving wheel journaled thereon and connected therewith by thepositive ratchet arranged to rotate the shaft in one direction, thedriving cog-wheel,

fixed to suchmotion-receivin g wheel and journaled upon. thepower-shaft, the reversing cog-wheel-meshingwith the driving cog-wheel,the reversing sprocket-wheel fixed to the reversing cog-wheel, theshaft-driving sprocketwheel journaled upon the power-shaft and connectedtherewith by the reversing-ratchet, arranged to drive the shaft in thesame direction it is driven by the positive ratchet, and suchreversing-ratchet.

5. The combination of the float, the supporting and depression pulleys,the frictiondrum, the cable passing around the frictiondrum and havingits end members respectively passed about the supporting and depressionpulleys and secured to the top and bottom of the float, thedrum-supporting shaft N, the driving sprocket-wheel O, mounted thereonand connected with the friction-drum, the sprocket-wheels Q and S, fixedto each other and journaled to revolve,the sprocketchain R, connectingthe driving sprocketwheel 0 with the sprocket-wheels Q and S, thepower-shaft W, the reciprocating motionreceiving sprocket-wheel U,journaled thereon and connected therewith by the positive ratchetarranged to rotate the shaft in one direction, the driving cog-wheel X,fixed to the sprocket-wheel U and journaled upon the power-shaft, thereversing cog-wheel Y, meshing with the driving cog-wheel X, thereversing sprocket-wheel 0, fixed to the reversing cog-wheel, theshaft-driving sprocket-wheel q, journaled upon the power-shaft andconnected therewith by the reversing-ratchet, arranged to drive theshaft in the same direction it is driven by the positive ratchet oz,such revers- 1 ing-ratchet, and a governor.

6. The combination of the power-shaft, the

governor-rod provided with the centrifugal balls and geared to thepower-shaft, the frici tion-hub fixed to the power-shaft, the pivotedbrake-band-operating levers, the brake-band arranged around thefriction-hub and connected by its ends, respectively, to such levers,

the vertically-moving sleeve operatively connected withthe centrifugalballs, the leveroperating rods connecting the sleeve with levers,thefriction-drum, operative mechanismconnecting the power-shaft withsuch friction-drum, the float, the cable secured to the 1 top and bottomof such float and passing respectively over and under the supporting anddepression pulleys and around the frictiondrum and having the looppassed around the r tension-pulley secured to the tensionecarriage,

such pulley and carriage, and the weight.

7. The combination of the float, the sustaining-pulley, thefriction-drum, the tension carriage and pulley and means for operatingthe same, the inclined track provided with the retaining-grooves, theanchoring-eye fixed beneath the float, the traveling carriage arrangedto travel up and down such track and provided with suitable retainingdevices arranged to project into such grooves, the anchoring-hooksecured to the carriage and arranged to engage theanchoring-eye when thecarriage is at the bottom of the track, the depression-pulley fixed tothe'hook, thecarriage cable-pulleys f f the carriage-operating cable e,and the machine-operating cable, arranged as set forth.

8. In an ocean-motor in which a float-operated cable is employed totransmit power, the combination, with the lower member of, the

cable, of an inclined track, a carriage arranged to travel up and downsuch track, a fixed anchor-eye, a hook provided with a depression-pulleyand arranged to engage the eye when the carriage is at the bottom of thetrack, and means for moving the carriage up and down the track.

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